Member review

Titanic (The film) is amazing, it’s not a surprise, but if you want a surprise, go look somewhere else. Never has a film before been able to convey the personal sense of loss and tragedy of the heartbreaking incident that happened in the early hours of the 15th of April 1912 which cost 1,517 souls. Directed, written, and produced by James Cameron, no director has ever put this much time, energy, blood, sweat and time into a single film to tell the story of the Titanic's maiden voyage. Starting the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, by far the best actor of his generation and Kate Winslet in her breakout role. This 1997 historical romance disaster film is guaranteed to leave tears in your eyes, way before the credits role.

The story follows the Rose Dawson Calvert telling her story and experience aboard the Titanic to treasure hunter Brock Lovett who searches for the Heart of the Ocean, a legendary jewel that was lost when the Titanic sunk (It’s not a spoiler, it is a historical fact), however as he tells her story (Shown through flashbacks) of the event, we learn more about her, the men, women and children who were aboard the Titanic. Rose is a 17 year old girl, brought up in a wealthy family slowly falling into triviality, to fill their pockets they intend to marry her to a man she doesn't love, Cal Hockley (Billy Zane), with her life set in stone, she despises, until she meets Jack Dawson (Leanardo DiCaprio) a third class passenger, who won his ticket at a lucky hand at poker, he makes his way from place to place, selling his art and sleeping under bridges, who she slowly fall in love with seeing in him a life she can not have. But as the Titanic hits the iceberg, wounding the ship beyond repair, will the two make it out alive?

The film is an emotional rollercoaster, each actor brings their A game and something unique to the table, from the heartless Spicer Lovejoy (David Warner) to the complexity of First Officer William Murdoch (Ewan Stewart), but with so many characters, how can the film balance them all out. The film has two plots in my opinion. The first of these is the romance between Jack and Rose, perhaps most prominent in the first half of the film. The romance between the two feel’s real and most unique. There are clearly root’s from William Shakesphere’s Romeo and Juliet, two people in love, but forced apart by the hypocrisy of the lie known as class. There is a present theme of class throughout the entire film, rich and poor. Perhaps the best example of this is the party scene. After Jack has saved Rose’s life he is invited to a party by her fiance to dine and drink, immediately after though, Jack travels down to lower deck to dance, drink and laugh with his fellow third class a loud, celebration of culture, as people from all different clothes dance and laugh, whilst the first class party, all dressed in the same identical clothing, having the same tedious conversation over and over again, by having these two scenes right after enough shows us the clear contrast between entertainment in those days.

The second plot is that of the crew, presented through the eyes of the crew, as they desperately try to save every life they can. Although they let the first plot take place during the first half, once they hit the iceberg they fully kicked in, presenting problem after problem. Whilst this film is extremely difficult to criticise, I do feel that this aspect of the film should have been given more attention, but what we are given is heartbreaking, each character, fictional or nonfictional is presented like a real person who we feel for and can understand. Captain Edward John Smith (Bernard Hill) the retiring captain is pushed by the rich to boost the speed of the Titanic which ultimately led them to their collision course. The poor men within the boiler room, who died first, by only doing their jobs. Thomas Andrews (Victor Garber) the ship’s builder, makes us feel sorry for him, as all he has done throughout the film is be warm to every character, no matter the class, early on in the film we are told that their are not enough lifeboats to support all the passengers, so, whilst they do not know it, it is ultimately a fight for survival as the hour goes on and the ship sinks deeper we slowly despair at the character's face challenge by challenge. The wealthy up top are given legroom, whilst the poor are kept in the gutter, trapped like animals as the crew men tell them to stay.

Perhaps the most distant image to me when the poor fight back. When Jack along with his two friends, italian Fabrizio (Danny Nucci) and Tommy Ryan (Jason Barry) are forced to stay, chained down, but they fight back and force their way out. This one scene shows us the view of the poor in those days, and unfromartly, the view was not pretty. I could go on and on about how much this film succeeds on, from giving us a sense of dread from the very first scene, presenting us a montage of the real Titanic as it fades to blue, the deep blue, as the sense of happiness and accomplishment, shows us the fate of this ship, coming out of the darkness like ghost. Presenting us with dread and fear from the very start. Or James Horner heartbreaking music which could make a person feel an array of different emotions. The iceberg scene especially, tense and nail biting, the cinematography is at point at this scene as we feel each actor’s sense of dread as they act their hearts out, but what makes it most heartbreaking is the feel of safety, narrowly missing it, only hitting it by the side, teh people up on deck feel safe, as if the worst is over, it is clearly not.

Ultimately, the film is about loss, the los of a friend, the loss of an enemy, the loss of a loved one. When I first watched it, I was unsure how the filmmakers in a respectful and tasteful way, whilst I was ultimately unsure of the romance plot, it still warms my heart, but ultimately the true events, the Captain, the First Officer, the rich, the poor, as we see them scramble and run for their lives, we know this happen, and that is what makes this film so emotional, we know this happened, we ask the question why it happened, why should such a horrible thing happen, the love between Jack and Rose, and the loss they feel is a representation of that loss that each of survivors feel, and by staging the iceberg in the middle of the second act it allows us to develop are love for these characters as well as the dread they feel.